All familiar characters, phrases, and/or scenes belong to Janet. The mistakes are mine.
"Selfish fucking bastard," I swore, disconnecting the call.
Tank's head turned in my direction. "Problem?"
You could say that.
One word is all I needed. "Morelli."
"What'd the asshole do now?"
"Left Stephanie hanging."
"Big surprise. He fucks up what's going on between you two, then backs away. Isn't that your thing?"
"Shut it," I warned him.
"What's your plan?" He asked, instead of being a total dick.
"I'll do what I always do ... bail her out."
"Just to have Morelli show up after the fact with bullshit apologies oozing out of every orifice?"
"Not this time."
Mary Lou and Lenny decided that after all the years and kids they've had together, they were going to now have the wedding they couldn't afford when they first tied the knot. Stephanie's set to revive her role as maid of honor and Morelli had promised her that he'd be her date no matter what came up. But the fucker once again refused to put her over himself.
When I first learned of the Burg event, I made up my mind that it would be his last chance to do right by her ... and he blew it. Clearly, he isn't the better man I'd told her he was. He's really just a spoiled brat who has been babied and indulged so often, and for so long, he just expects everyone to excuse whatever asshole thing he does.
It stops today. I'll be Steph's date to the wedding and the man by her side long after it. Morelli can piss and moan all he wants, but the 'cupcake' he only bothers with when the mood strikes, is no more. Stephanie's always been more a bombshell babe than a bakery item, and it's past time the Burg bastard realizes that.
"You heading out?" Tank asked.
"Yeah. I'll be at Steph's. No calls unless someone's on fire."
"You care who'd be smoking?"
"If it's Santos, you can toast a marshmallow then call me."
Tank can appreciate the morbid humor. Over the years and through countless life and death situations ... he, Brown, Santos, and I have grown as close as men like us let ourselves, so all death threats made to them are usually warnings rather than impending actions. Tank left and I locked up my office, using the five flights of stairs to the garage to process the major change I'm about to make to my life.
Like Mary Lou, Eddie Gazarra has been Steph's friend since grade school. Despite he and Morelli both working for the TPD, if Joe does anything negative towards Stephanie, Eddie will always side with her. That's why he passed along some vital information regarding her and Joe's 'wedding date'. He's almost as sick of Morelli fucking with her as I am.
I don't care if Morelli's latest job is factual or just a juvenile attempt at getting out of a date he doesn't give a shit about. He won't be getting the opportunity to make this up to her. He won't be speaking to her again without my body being planted firmly between the two of them.
I got to Steph's building and chose to be polite by opening her door on my own so I wouldn't disturb her by knocking. I walked into her place and found her standing by the couch in the living room, glaring at the phone in her hand.
"Jerk," she said to herself.
"You just talk to Morelli?" I asked.
She didn't even blink at me suddenly appearing behind her.
"I'm warning you ... whatever you're here for, I'm not in the mood to deal with," she told me.
"Because Morelli fucked up again?"
She tossed her cell onto the couch cushion and faced me. "How did you know?"
"I make it my business to know everything. You need a date," I stated.
"You offering?" She asked, not for a second believing I'd say yes to a typical date, much less one to a wedding.
"Yes. You accepting?"
Her eyebrows went up. "You know that you'd be escorting me to Mary Lou's wedding, right? That means family, friends, and half the Burg will be attending, and you'd be stuck there with all of them."
"So you'd like me to leave my gun at home? Or pack an extra two?"
Her humor was slowing returning. "You'd never leave your apartment without at least three weapons on you."
"What time do you need to be at the church?" I asked her, not commenting on something we already know is fact.
"I appreciate you wanting to ride to my rescue again, but it's okay. I can just go by myself. I'll most likely be too busy to even remember that I have a date, so it's probably better this way."
"What time?" I repeated, ignoring her attempt to let me off the hook.
She sighed, then finally answered me. "Two o'clock. But, Ranger ..."
I stopped her protest by wrapping my fingers around her wrist and jerking her to me. I gave her a chance to block me, but she didn't appear to want to. I lowered my head and kissed her. She was stiff at first, but then she slowly seemed to dissolve in my arms, unclamping her lips so my tongue could stroke hers.
I was enjoying it more than I should, since I'm not completely sure Morelli screwed up enough in her mind to warrant a break up, but I'm willing to chance it. I want to leave her with something to think about if she decides to stay Morelli-free.
When I raised my head, I looked her dead in the eye. "I'll be here tomorrow at one-thirty," I said. "You know I will pick the locks and track you down right after I do, so I wouldn't advise canceling if I were you."
And I left her before she could come up with an inarguable reason why we're both stupid for going through with this. In the ten minutes it took to return to Rangeman, I noticed that I'm feeling more content than I have in months.
The next day I arrived back at her building with a few minutes to spare. Her normally unruly curls had been twisted up off her neck and she had on a simple sundress that would accommodate whatever she'll wear beneath the gown she had folded over her arm. I'm always turned on by her, but I'm suddenly exponentially more interested in seeing firsthand what's currently covering her skin.
"You got everything?" I asked.
"I think so. Mary Lou hired someone to take care of hair, makeup, and last minute adjustments to our clothes. I just got a jump-start on some of it."
"You can't improve on perfection, Babe."
"Apparently ... you can," she said, checking me out in a meticulously tailored black suit and black Ella-pressed dress shirt.
I used a loose headlock to pull her to my side. I kissed the top of her head where her curls had been gathered and took the garment bag from her. She snagged the poor excuse for a bag off the counter by Rex as I stood waiting to lock up behind us.
She slid into the passenger's seat of my Porsche and didn't say much on the way to the church. I wasn't sure what exactly it was that kept her quiet ... if it's something as simple as her going over her duties as maid of honor, or thoughts much more complicated, like she's disappointed that Morelli isn't her date today. If that's what's happening, it won't continue. I told her once that I could make her forget him if I wanted to, and I have nothing more pressing than that to do right now.
Steph and I split up seconds after we walked through the church doors. I took a seat on the bride's side of the aisle, close enough to the altar so I'll have a visual on Stephanie throughout the ceremony as well as the moment she steps onto the aisle. I've arranged for backup in case Morelli shows up and needs to be removed quickly and quietly, but I don't relax unless my own eyes are locked on Stephanie.
I scanned everyone who came into the church, and carefully studied the ones who are moving around in it, paying special attention to the seats where the people Stephanie has a connection to are sitting. Her family is three rows behind me, and the feel of her grandmother's intent stare on the back of my head brought to mind missions I haven't been able to forget.
Edna is probably wondering if my presence here is what it appears to be. And Helen is no doubt hoping I leave and Joe's ass shows up soon. I didn't budge, and the ass - and dick it belongs to - was still a no-show. Although the room simultaneously quieted down just before the music started, for me, the telltale sign that the ceremony's about to begin is the sudden fidgeting Lenny, and his brother standing beside him, were noticeably doing.
I don't blame them. I had no intention of getting married again, hadn't even considered it an option until Stephanie, but as I watched her walk down after a string of Stankovics and Molnars, I understood the inclination if it meant something that beautiful would be walking towards me promising to be mine.
Mary Lou had been more open-minded with this wedding. She had chosen a simple yet elegant ivory dress for herself, but allowed her maid-of-honor and other attendees to also look their best, not concerned about competition. And Stephanie looked exceptional in a very fitted, red strapless gown. The wide sash-style belt made of a metallic version of the same red as the dress, accentuated the fullness of the chest above it - the chest that's caused many uncomfortable nights for me - and it drew my eyes to the small waist that my hands always gravitate to. The belt tied at the small of her back and the long tails cascaded over the sweet curve of her ass and down the long, beautiful legs I ache to be between right now.
I always advise being aware of your surroundings, but I wouldn't be able to repeat what Mary Lou and Lenny said to each other if asked. I've been tracking Stephanie's movements, and couldn't take my eyes or ears off her. That's the only reason I knew that the church part of the day was over. She headed back up the aisle, and I disappeared through a side door as she went out the front ones. She'll be followed on her way to the reception site, and won't be alone once during it, so I could get out ahead of the crowd and arrive there before the other guests.
When Mary Lou was surrounded by well-wishers after she and Lenny reunited with their guests, I saw Steph get cornered by her mother. I know she'll feel differently about a rescue this time.
"Will Mary Lou miss you?" I asked, coming up behind her.
She turned, and I caught the look of relief that crossed her face. She did want a break from her mother, but I also know part of the relief I saw is due to her thinking I'd taken off instead of seeing this date through to the end. She looked around and spotted Mary Lou playing referee to her boys. She couldn't stop a shudder at thinking of being in her best friend's place.
"No. She's good until the toast," she glanced at her family ... Frank now having joined our small group, uncomfortably fidgeting much like Lenny had earlier. "Ranger offered to be my date tonight."
"Which is what I was in the middle of asking," her mother said, not appreciating my interruption. "Where's Joseph?"
"I don't know. And today I don't care. He knew this was a big day for me and he canceled, even waiting until the last possible minute to do it, too."
Helen was about to sigh, but caught it just in time when Steph narrowed her eyes at her.
"He's a detective, Stephanie," Helen pointed out, like she herself hadn't been dead set against Morelli when he showed interest in her daughter again, "he has to go to work when he's called in."
"I get that. It didn't really bother me. I didn't ask a lot of him as my boyfriend, but this would've been the first real date we would have gone on in months. And he still doesn't get why that information is just as important as his job. So I told him that I'll do him and the city of Trenton a favor and give him more time to devote to it by not dating him anymore."
She ignored her mother's pinched face and her father's blank stare, did an about-face, and looked at me as if I'm the only other person in the room.
"Do you want to get a drink or something?" She asked.
"I'll keep you company while you get one. It looks like it's needed."
"You have no idea," she muttered, as I put a proprietorial hand low on her back and walked with her to the bar.
I ordered her a glass of Merlot and waited until she had taken a few sips before I spoke. She'll likely need a slight buzz in order to be receptive to what I want from her.
"The bride is glowing," I said, leaning close to her so I'd be heard over the band that had begun to play, "but you're the scene-stealer, Babe."
She gave me an unladylike snort. "Hardly."
"Look around. You have multiple eyes on you, not just mine."
"Yeah ... I do, because you've got Tank and Bobby covering the wedding."
She can admit that she looks good on occasion, but she doesn't know how devastating she truly is. Morelli noticed, today anyway, from where he's now standing towards the back of the Hall's ballroom. Tank had also spotted him, and is currently acting as his shadow so Joe won't ruin Mary Lou's party or mine and Steph's date. Bobby had his eyes on all four of us from a few feet away.
Stephanie hasn't seen Morelli yet, and I'm going to keep it that way.
"You're going to owe the guys combat pay for making them have to listen to sappy vows, and also for tolerating Grandma's less-than-subtle flirting," Steph told me.
She's still keyed up from her brief discussion with her mother to pick out the tension source that had just walked in.
"Tank and Bobby have both survived things far worse than a wedding and accompanying reception," I replied. "And I pay them plenty to prevent any bitching about a job that won't result in a month-long hospital stay."
She smiled at me and I found myself moving closer to her, not to prove anything to Morelli, but because she really is that irresistible to me. I took her glass and held it for her in my right hand so she won't drop it in response to what I'm about to do ... what I need to do. Something Morelli had to see to drive my point home.
I curled my left arm around her waist and tipped her slightly back before kissing her thoroughly. Making myself wait all day to do this, made the kiss that much sweeter. When I pulled back, the look Morelli shot me right before he stormed off - bouncing off Tank in the process of scurrying out the door he'd just casually strolled through - let me know he got the message. He irreversibly fucked up, and he's now lost the woman he never deserved in the first place because of it.
I flicked my eyes back to Steph's puffy lips and dazed blue eyes. When Morelli had picked up his phone less than twenty-four hours ago, he had forfeited any rights he had to her. And I've only just begun to show her that she's always been mine where it counts.
